Ponytail Palm, Care tips for one of the easiest houseplants

[@ancylinsley7872]

I’ve had one for many years, a Home Depot rescue as a baby. It has slowly grown very large, actually flowered one year! Had to cut it back a lot when I moved to a smaller house, and it developed several trunks. It sits back a few feet from southern windows and acts as a substantial room divider. Caudex is about 13” at the base. My grandson named it Spikey.

[@EmmaMorgan09]

I’ve repotted mine twice in six months. It’s in a large clear orchid pot so I can see root growth, which is insanely fast! I only bottom water it, and keep the top 2/3rds of soil dry as the roots are only in the bottom 3rd of the pot. I water every other week. It is in aroid compost with extra perlite added. A very happy plant this far!

[@michaelri1224]

Easy to listen to and very good looking 😉Thank's for the useful information 👍

[@ItsMeCheryl1231]

I repotted my palm after about 20 years in the same pot. (When I bought it there were 2 codex's in the pot) I recently repotted it. After a while, (I wanted to see if it was going to survive the repotting), I decided to cut one off and see if it would grow new pups. I did put the top in some water just to see if it would root (I have read that it won't). After about 2 months, I saw roots! I have since planted it and it's doing great. It did take about 3 months before I saw any pups starting. (that happened after spring had started and with longer days and more light, about 6 pups are starting to form! I am so excited to see what it will look like after a few more months of more sunlight. (I keep it in a west facing window).

[@EmmaMorgan09]

One of my favourite plants in my collection. I have it on a south facing windowsill and it’s put out loads of new growth all of which is red! I assume it will turn green as it matures.

[@mardel3]

I cut , whole top off my pony tail palm, it was dropping leaves it had mealy bugs but now I don't know how to propagate the piece i cut and how to care of the trunk left in the pot? . Can you help

[@engfeiyin]

Can you tell how old the plant is by its stem?

[@tanya.quintieri]

You have a Fizzle Sizzle hairdo today! :D My Ponytail Palm is small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. They seem to grow into incredibly slow.

[@Houseplantygoodness]

Yeah they are very very slow I agree mine is 4 this year and still slow 🐢

[@MrChadsGrandma]

Thank you

[@jeremytalbot8565]

I found mine in the U.S. at a Home Depot for $5 almost 3 years ago. Started at about 5" tall now it's about 2 feet, probably needs a bigger pot soon. Do you think it would benefit from Coco chips like Aroids?

[@saifsalah8593]

I have one When I moved it to a larger pot, it lost the top Top with leaves But the side leaves are still there and the stem is good Will the top grow again? I read about it being a powerful plant I hope it works because it's amazing and expensive

[@heldaicuyar7343]

It grew originally in Mexico

[@tanya.quintieri]

Oh, mine is in Pon, too. But only since September or so.

[@Houseplantygoodness]

Same pretty much since August 😊

[@Dave-if5qj]

It's from central america

[@Dave-if5qj]

I do know in the wild it's Considered endangered

[@cricketjem119]

I thought it was easy for months until I gave it a haircut. I literally chopped the leaves about an inch as it they were long and unruly (longer than its height). I think it didn’t like it as days after that leaves started to turn brown and it declined. Now it is bare and roots look dry. I water it when it was fully dry about once a week. It was fine by northern window and steadily growing but I am pretty sure I killed it - maybe first person to kill a Pony Tail Palm through a haircut. No new growth since the summer haircut. I was a bit attached to this adorable plant so I am keeping it a bit longer till I am sure it is dead. It seems dead because the roots no longer grab on the soil and I can easily lift it up. Roots look so dry. And no new growth. Maybe it didn’t like the lower light situation. Baffled how a haircut could distress it so much to lead to its death.

[@Houseplantygoodness]

ohhh noooo, that is such a shame to hear that, i have not heard of that before, i give mine little haircuts all the time. I always try to cut only the brown and not the green part. Was it maybe something other than the haircut that caused the decline? did its conditions change at all?

[@annejala]

So sorry to hear about your ponytail palm. I give mine haircuts all the time and they don’t seem to care. I have small ones I raised from babies. I have 11 living together in 2 pots. They will be 11 years old this summer. Morgan and Madison...yes..I named them because they have been living with me for so long! I will have to find a family member to adopt them when I die. Don’t give up...try again. I love the ponytail palms. They are very easy to care for.

[@cricketjem119]

@@annejala that is such an endearing story. They must be super adorable. Just curious, how do you care for them? I think mine died perhaps from lack of light (I had it by the northern window) and maybe stress from the haircut. The roots were all dried up. I did water only when the soil was fully dry perhaps about once every 10 days. It was still growing new leaves but they were getting unruly and long so I cut them. After that, it just withered and the roots dried up. If I have better lighting one day I may get another one. I have an attachment as well to a plant (my spider plant that is 10 years old and my Phllodendron Giganteum that is the steadiest grower with no pests). That is endearing you want to let your plants live on through family. I hope to do so with mine too or I may donate to a plant rescue or another plant parent if I no longer can care for them. I was also thinking of donating beloved plants to a local public greenhouse.

[@cricketjem119]

@@Houseplantygoodness no conditions abruptly changed other than the haircut. It may not have liked the lower light situation since I had it by the northern window though it still grew new leaves in that spot.

[@annejala]

@@cricketjem119 I don’t really do anything special with the ponytails I have. I water them about the same that you do. I haven’t got very good lighting either. I bought them on sale one summer for $1.50 each. I bought a Hoya the same summer. The Hoya I almost killed it 4 years ago...I was so upset. His name is Robert. It was trailing and flowering each year. I think his soil needed to be changed and all his leaves started turning yellow. I repotted him and nursed him back to health. He is starting to trail again. I bet your spider plant is beautiful! She is living her best plant life at 10 years old. Your philodendron Is doing amazing too! I have a philodendron mican but I haven’t had much luck with it. I talk to them when I water them...I call them by their name and I also sing to them. I have had plant failures. I tried to have a variety of plants in the past and my lighting at my house wasn’t ideal for them. Now I stick with the ones that I do best with..aloe vera, spider plants, different types of sansevaria, hoyas, ponytail palms, and zz plants. I love to go look at all the different varieties of plants at the nurseries each spring. You can call me the crazy plant lady..lol. Each year I celebrate their birthday by putting a birthday flags in their pot.. they get a new pot too. You are doing everything right with your 10 years and growing plants so keep it up. The goal is to keep them living, healthy, and growing. I have a mikado sansevaria that wasn’t doing anything. I called the nursery and they told me to bring him and let them check him out..I told my sister I took him to the plant doctor. They told me he needed more light. That fixed him. He started growing..slow.. but growing. He was a baby too. He is 4 years old now. Never gave me any more issues. He stays green year around. Sorry about the long post. I have learned so much from the people on KZbin, reading, about plant care, along with trial and error. Could you please tell me your care regimen for your 10 year old spider plant. What kind of soil do you put her in and how often do you water her? Thanks my plant friend.

[@nathaliep5701]

I love my ponytail palm but all the leaves have dried up. I hope it comes back again in the spring. Any tips?

[@sowiain713]

Put it in PON